Subliminal Messaging in Marketing and Advertising

Subliminal messaging is deliberately designed communication technique aimed at generating a response, so that people will do things they usually wouldn’t do. When I heard the term subliminal messaging and its use in marketing,I was excited to study it further because this concept appeals to the subconscious mind, usually, marketers target the conscious mind. For example, the aroma of popcorn in theaters is the subliminal message to the people to buy it. Vendors ensure the aroma is strong and invites people subconsciously to buy it. That’s subliminal messaging.

For instance, Apple store play songs with subliminal messages, they play “Under my thumb” by The Rolling Stones is a nod to devices like I Phones and I Pads which involve you touching the glass screen located under your thumb.

How subliminal messaging works

Our mind consists of two parts: conscious and the subconscious. Conscious mind gives us the control of our mind. With consciousness, we can think, judge, feel and experience with awareness. Our mind operates below the level of conscious awareness. Our sub consciousness is more powerful than consciousness when it comes to processing information. According to a research, sub consciousness is able to process 20,000 bits of information, while consciousness can deal only with 7 + 2 bits of information. Subliminal messages appeal to our subconscious mind. Subliminal messages target two senses: visual and auditory. Under each category, there are several techniques.